Vertical profiles of heavy metal concentration were studied using two sediment core samples collected from the Ainoya Pond, to investigate the pollution history of the Ashio copper mine. In the first core, increases in Mn, Cu, Zn, Ag, Cd, Sb, Pb and Bi were observed in the layers of 12-14 cm-depth and <2 cm-depth. In the second core, layers of 4-10 cm-depth and 15-19 cm-depth showed higher concentrations. The vertical changes corresponded to the chronological record of Cu production in Ashio. Pollution became apparent when modernized production began in the 1880s. The situation worsened with military expansion around the Japanese-Russo War, an economic development after WWI, and the rapid economic growth period of Japan in the 1960s. In contrast, pollution was alleviated at the end of, and immediately after, WWII when the production was declined. A significant increase in Ag, followed by Sb, Cu, Zn, and Pb, was observed in the surface layers of the first core. This may be attributed to imported ore, which was the main resource for production during the economic growth period. Even after taking vertical migration into account, it was revealed that ore importation had an effect on element concentration, particularly Ag.
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